Don't look out the window. It’s probably dark and damp out there. But don’t despair — a perfect riding day will be here before you know it. You’ll have your favourite local roads, of course. And they’re great for a quick shakedown, an hour or two to blow the dust away on any mostly dry weekend. But as the skies start to clear, it’s time to treat yourself to a proper day-long ride.

The trick is to pick somewhere just beyond your normal riding range – the next nice town after the one where you’d usually turn back to base. You’ll probably have an idea of what the roads around there are like anyway, but take time to plan a route into untested territory. Where you end up will depend on where you start.

From our Peterborough HQ, the Cotswolds are an ideal two-hour ride away. We know many of the great roads there — but there are plenty we’re still to explore. Spring is the perfect time to try them.

The B4377 between Charlbury and Shipton-inder-Wychwood. A stunning part of the world on the right day

HOW TO GET THERE

The Cotswolds are loosely hemmed in by the M40, the M5 and M4, so access is easy. We’d take the A429, A40, A361 or A44 to get to the heart of the area.

WHEN TO GO

March or April.

WHERE TO EAT

For coffee and cake, stop Cacao Bean in Moreton-in-Marsh. For a pub lunch, we like The Plough Inn at Ford .

Route summary

Distance: 170 miles
Riding time: 5 hours
Download the GPX file

Please note: This page contains the motorcycle touring routes for The RiDE Guide To Great Britain which was published in October 2017. These website pages are not regularly updated, so please check all critical information before you travel. All route files are in .gpx format. Garmin and BMW users can download the main file, which contains all the routes. TomTom users can either download the individual routes or use the MyRouteApp (depending on the age of your device).